


Of Toddlers and True Love

by hoverboarddinosaur



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2018-08-12 01:30:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7915177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoverboarddinosaur/pseuds/hoverboarddinosaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After realizing he's gay, Levi Ackerman, a popular fantasy writer, divorces his wife, Petra Ral. Initially, she takes custody of their daughter, Mila Ackerman, but once she loses her job at a law firm, she gives custody to Levi.</p><p>Naturally, Levi is glad to have custody of his beloved daughter, and is ready for all the challenges that come with being a single parent. What he's not prepared for is the challenge of meeting a sweet, smart, stubborn, and handsome daycare owner who happens to be a fan of his books.</p><p>Eren Jaeger says that all he wants is for Levi to read one of his short stories to the children at his daycare, but the chocolates he gives Levi (that Mila delivers) suggests he wants more.....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Of Toddlers and E-mails

Eren Jaeger's house was clean and cozy, but very small. It was no more than his tiny bedroom (which wasn't any longer than a yard long and a yard wide), and his strange fusion of a kitchen, a living room, and a spare bedroom that included a sofa that could turn into a bed, an old TV, a rickety table, and a small stove and a rusty sink. However, a large living space wasn't necessary, considering that Eren spent most of his time in his house curled up on his bed, drinking coffee while devouring a good book.

Aside from children, Eren's favorite thing in the world was reading. He read poetry, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and romance, and he loved every second of it. Every since he was very little, reading had been Eren's favorite pastime. He always told the children at his daycare, Freedom Daycare, that reading about an adventure was like going on the adventure yourself, which, for Eren, was completely true. That was why he loved Levi Ackerman's- or, to his his pen name, Rivaille's stories so much.

Rivaille was a mysterious and reclusive author that Eren adored with all of his heart. He'd published several popular novels and novellas. Best of all, he was a spokesman for LGBTQ+ rights- some even said that Rivaille himself was gay!

Eren loved Rivaille's books so much that on one particular day- the day this story begins- he sat on his bed, drinking coffee as he re-read The Woman of Moss, one of Rivaille's more recent books. The brunette rarely re-read things because he preferred to enjoy a book and move on to the next one, but Rivaille had a way of telling stories that allowed Eren to experience the exciting adventures he craved, but still feel safe and cozy. As a result, he always came back to them.

As Eren read his favorite part of the story, in which Cassandra, the Woman of Moss, pledged her self to Finden, his phone began to chime next to him. Picking up the phone with an irritated look on his face, he saw a notification that read, New e-mail from Petra Ral. Sub: Change of plans.

Eren opened his phone up and looked at her email instantly, less annoyed by the interruption now that he knew it was Petra. Petra's daughter, Mila, was one of his favorite students, due to her energy and ingenuity- just the type of child Eren knew was bound to succeed.

He read:

Mr. Jaeger;

I'm sorry to say that I recently lost my job at the law firm. Not to worry, I'm still looking for some freelance cases, but I'm working full-time at a supermarket to make ends meet.

Because of this new schedule, I won't have time to care for Mila. I'm giving custody to my ex-husband, who'll be dropping her off at daycare every week. Just want to let you know so that you're not surprised!

Below is the picture for his guardian profile. I'm sure you'll recognize him.

 

Eren clicked the image, wondering why he'd recognize him, and then gasped upon seeing the wondrously familiar face on the screen. Not believing his eyes, he picked up the book he was reading and flipped it over so he could look at the back cover. Sure enough, the man in the 'About the Author' section possessed the same austere expression, cold, grey eyes, and black hair as the man on his phone screen.

Excitement overwhelmed Eren as he squealed like a little girl. He couldn't believe what he'd just learned, but at the same time, it was something he'd wanted to believe for a long time. "I'm going to meet Levi Ackerman!" he exclaimed.


	2. Of Toddlers and Teachers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi finishes a book, and meets his daughter's daycare owner.

Levi took a deep breath as he stared at his computer screen. All the paragraphs in his Word document were complete and heavily edited, except for one, which lacked only five words. Dare he write them? Dare he finish the project that had consumed his soul, his mind, his energy, and his heart for a year? What would become of all of him once he no longer had a clear, burning purpose?

Although, it wasn't like he had a choice. If he didn't finish it, all his hard work would go to waste, if only because it wouldn't get published. He supposed he would just have to go back to being empty, apathetic Levi- that is, until he started a new project.

Yes, Levi had to finish 'Ilse's Journal.' Sighing and placing his fingers on the keyboard, he closed his eyes and reluctantly typed, "never to return home again."

For a brief moment, Levi felt a lot of things. Happiness. Relief. Exhaustion. Sadness to the point of wanting to cry. But those feelings were all put on hold when he heard a shrill, muffled little voice say, "Daddy, are you ready to go?"

"Almost!" Levi shouted back. He clicked 'print,' then ran over to the copier as all 900 pages of 'Ilse's Journal' were printed. He grabbed them, stapled them together with all his strengths, and then left his office. He found himself face-to face with his little daughter, Mila.

"How do I look?" Mila asked, twirling around. She wore a T-shirt that said 'LOL' in sparkly, pink letters, a tutu as black as her ow hair, rainbow tights, and sneakers. In short, she looked like your average, crazy four-year old.

"You look like a princess," Levi said, swooping her up into his arms as she giggled. The raven-haired man did a small, almost non-existent smile, and his daughter promptly put her tiny hands on his cheeks and pushed them up until he was grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

"There! Happy Daddy!" she said triumphantly. Levi put her back on her feet, grabbed her hand, and took her out to the car.

Once they were both buckled and ready to go, Levi began to drive while Mila began to talk. She told Levi various stories about daycare from when Petra, her mother, would take her. While Levi recognized a few names, such as Hanji's twins, Trudie and Lambert, and Hank, Erwin and Mike's kid, most of the names, nicknames, and games his daughter spoke of were foreign to him. He was glad his daughter enjoyed himself, though. As a child, he had not been nearly as excited about the time when Jessica pooped on the swingset.

After approximately twenty minutes of driving and story-telling, Levi saw Mila's daycare for the first time. It was called 'Freedom Daycare,' and it was about the size of your average house. Crude pictures and colorful crafts were hung in the windows, and a tall, brown-haired man stood in the front of the door.

Levi had some difficulty parking but eventually succeeded after cursing out some parents ("Those are Daddy-Only words," he told Mila). He quickly brought Mila to the door because he had a publishing meeting that day.

At the door, the brunette- Mr. Jaeger, Levi believed his name was- was politely waving to the parents and their children, only when he saw Mila and Levi did he gasp a bit and grow a gigantic smile on his face.

"Hello, Mila!" he said to the little girl.

"Hi! My daddy says I look like a princess today!"

"You sure do! Go on ahead in!"

Mila skipped into the noisy daycare and Mr. Jaeger turned to Levi. "Hello, Mr. Riv- I mean, Ackerman! My name is Eren Jaeger!" he said, shaking Levi's hand fiercely. He was still smiling, and his face was starting to turn red.

"Are you okay? You look like you need to take a shit," Levi said.

"Mr. Ackerman, we don't use no-no words around the children. However, I am your biggest fan! Your books are phenomenal in every way, from the plot to the grammar! 'The Woman of Moss' is my favorite, but 'A Choice With No Regrets' is also really good! The first one I read was 'Maria, Rose, and Sina' and I-"

"Okay, okay, don't pis-" Eren shook his head slowly. "Don't wet yourself. I'm glad you like my books, really, but you need to chill a bit."

"How can I possibly chill? I read your short story 'Pomegranate' yesterday and nearly died! And you're a gay icon- is that why you divorced Miss Ral?"

Levi was about to answer when a little voice shouted, "Mr. Jaeger! Trudie's about to make a prince!"

Levi and Eren both looked into the daycare, only to see Lambert, Hanji's boy who also looked a lot like them, pointing to his sister Trudie who looked more like her father, Armin. She was trying to reach into a high up tank with a (very scared) frog in it.

"Trudie, if you kiss Frogwarts, I won't let you show us your cartwheels today," Eren said calmly. Trudie gasped a bit and ran away from the frog tank to where Mila was building a block tower. 

"I'm not kissing Frogwarts!" Trudie announced.

"Good girl," Eren said, then turned back to face Levi.

"You seem busy. I'll get out of your hair." Very brown, very messy hair. It's probably soft. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jaeger."

"Call me Eren."

"Nice to meet you, Eren."

"It was awesome to meet you! I hope you enjoy your few relaxing, childless hours."

"It's not relaxing, really. I have a publisher meeting."

Eren gasped and his green eyes widened. "A publisher's meeting? You're writing another story?"

"Yeah. It's about a soldier who gets abandoned in enemy territory."

"Oh my god! I can't wait to read it! Good luck, and if the publisher denies it, call me and I'll beat him up!"

"Is 'beat him up' a 'no-no word?'"

Eren laughed. "No."

"Good to know. See you later, Eren."

"See you later, Rivaille."

"Levi."

"Levi, then."

They both waved to each other, and as Levi got into his car, for the first time in his entire writing career, he was nervous for a publisher meeting. He wasn't nervous for himself, really- he feared the look disappointment of Eren's face if he got denied.

He also feared for his publisher's safety.


	3. Of Toddlers and Trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just before story time, Eren has an idea that Levi doesn't quite agree with.

Eren loved his daycare class- he really did. The whole class was so creative and energetic, and each toddler was uniquely quirky. Trudie and Lambert, Armin and Hanji's twins, were a prime example. Lambert had Hanji's unruly hair and their eyes, but was quiet and shy like his father, while Trudie was the exact opposite. Both of them, however, were mischievous, and had a strange love for gymnastics (and Gabby Douglas, too).

They weren't the only strange ones, though. Hank Smith, son of Erwin, loved wearing dresses and playing with Barbies. Missy Leonhardt loved to draw, but she wouldn't draw unicorns and robots like the other boys and girls- no, she drew more graphic scenes, usually depicting fights or death. Mila Ackerman loved to sing all day, and she sang everything from The Beatles to Panic! At The Disco. Indeed, Eren's class was strange, and he loved them for it.

However, Eren's favorite thing about his class was how much they loved reading. They couldn't stop talking about their favorite books and stories- in fact, Hank and the Arlert twins had started a book club, which basically mean Eren would read them a story and they'd talk about it at snack time. His class loved reading, perhaps because of Weekly Wonderful Storytime.

Weekly Wonderful Storytime was a weekly occurrence, in which Eren would spend half the day reading a book aloud to the kids, using hysterical voices and showing them the pictures. All of the children in Freedom Daycare looked forward to it.

It just so happened that, the day after Eren met Levi, it was a Weekly Wonderful Storytime day. All the toddlers came in more excited than usual.

"Will Ariel die in this version?" Missy asked, heading into the daycare with the most excitement the apathetic little girl had ever shown. 

(Eren was going to read 'The Little Mermaid.')

Eren nodded and Missy smiled a bit.

Hank came in next, wearing a pink dress (he wanted to match Ariel.) The Alert twins and Jean's child dashed right in.

After many children's arrivals, Levi and Mila showed up.

She wore a pink dress identical to Hank's. "See?" the dark-haired girl said, spinning around. "Hank, Ariel and I all match!"

"Awesome!" Eren said, high-fiving her.

As Mila skipped into the daycare humming 'Under the Sea,' Levi said, "Are you playing 'The Little Mermaid' or something?"

Eren shook his head. "No, I'm reading it."

"Isn't the original a bit too dark for children?"

Eren shrugged. "I read them 'The Little Match Girl' and they all loved it. Mila especially."

Levi smirked. "That's my girl. Well, thanks for making my kid like reading. Bye."

"Wait!" Eren cried as Levi began to walk off.

"Tch. What?"

"You've got to tell me how the publisher's meeting went."

"Oh. Fine, I guess. I was accepted, so there's no need to beat up Reeves."

"What? That's amazing! I can't wait to read it! When will it be released?"

"Well, he said 3 months, so.... June 15th."

"I can't wait, oh my god! Will you be doing signings? How long is the book? Does it have any relation to your previous writings?"

"You'll find out soon."

Really, though, Eren was absolutely elated. He was tired of r-reading Levi's old work- he'd read 'Maria, Rose, and Sina' eight times in the past month (it was a short story). Not that he was complaining- it was a beautiful story about dedication and strength. Eren wondered if those were traits Levi really valued. If so, did Eren have those qualities? Did Levi find people with those qualities attractive?

Actually, 'Maria, Rose, and Sina' was an amazing story for Freedom Daycare to hear. Eren could read it to them the following week, or, better yet, Levi could read it!

"Levi, would you, by any chance, be interested in reading 'Maria, Rose, and Sina' aloud to the class?" Eren asked.

"No," Levi said bluntly.

"Aw, why not?"

"I don't want to. Plus, kids don't like me."

"What do you mean? Mila adores you! She and I talked about you all day yesterday."

Levi blushed a bit, but stood his ground. "She has to like me. I'm her dad."

"That's dumb! Look, I like you... I-I mean, I like y-y-your books, so I'm sure the children will love it, too!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No. Goodbye, Eren."

As Levi walked off, Eren sighed and walked into the daycare. He had to prepare to read 'The Little Mermaid.'

However, Eren Jaeger was not in the business of giving up, especially not on hot, famous writers. So, as he grabbed 'The Little Mermaid' and prepared the toddlers' seats, he began to come up with ways to convince Levi to read aloud, because he was not taking 'no for an answer.


	4. Of Toddlers and Teasing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While bickering with Eren, Levi says something he'll either regret in many years, or be thankful for.

It was difficult for Eren to come up with things that would bribe Levi into reading one of his short stories aloud to the children. Usually, when he wanted to convince someone to do something, he'd rant and rant as loud as he could about all the beneficial possibilities until they were 'inspired.' (but in reality, they were just tired of hearing him talk).

However, something told Eren that Levi wasn't interested in doing things for the small bit of good they could produce. No, if Levi was going to read in the daycare, Eren was either going to find a bit of inspiration personal to Levi, or pay in some way. He just had to figure out what to use as currency.

At first, he tried plain and simple money. "I'll pay you $50 to read to the kids," he told Levi at drop-off one day.

"No," Levi said, as blunt as ever.

"Seriously? 50 bucks could probably buy Mila a cole bunch of toys, and she'd get to hear her father's work."

"If you saw the state of Mila's room, you would not be telling me to get her more toys. It's a mess. Also, like I said, kids don't like me, and they don't like my work."

Eren had a desperate, burning desire to argue with that statement, and he had to clench his fists to keep it contained. Then, he took a deep breath and thought, what would the Woman of Moss do?

If she were stuck on path that lead nowhere, with no other trail in sight, she'd forge a new path that branched from the one she was on. How could Eren branch from what Levi just said? Mila's messy room could be useful- Eren was good at cleaning, and he'd get to see the holy temple that was Rivaille's home. However, Levi was also reclusive in nature, so he probably wouldn't agree. The only other option was to somehow make the kids like him......

"If you agree to read, I'll teach the kids all about you and your accomplishments," Eren proposed. "They'll be sure to like you by the time you read!"

Levi sighed and pinched his forehead. "Look, Eren, you're a.... decent guy. Mila think's you're a godda-"

"Language."

"-goddang angel or something, and you somehow manage to keep Trudie and Lambert under control. That's amazing. I have nothing personal against you, but I really don't want to read. Since you're not a total... jerk, I'm going to let you down easy. I'll give you a free, early copy of my new book if you leave me alone."

Eren wasn't going to lie; he was very tempted by that offer. It would be a dream come true to experience a beautiful bit of Levi's soul before anyone else. Besides, he was starving for new books to read.

However, Eren was loyal. He loved his class- they were so bright and good. Even as he talked to Levi, they were playing fairly quietly and waiting for Eren. He also... liked Levi, and had to prove that children liked him. He had to do what was best for both of them.

"No," Eren said. Levi sighed, but it was more of a relieved sigh than a disappointed one. "With all due respect, Levi, I won't take 'no' for an answer. You need to read for those kids, so what can I offer you that will convince you to do that?"

"Nothing," Levi said. "We're just going to have to keep on arguing for a while, I guess." He looked away and appeared angry, but there was a tiny, suppressed smile on his lips.

Eren wondered why Levi seemed so happy about the arguments continuing, but rather than asking, he pouted with a tiny frown and wide eyes.

A gust of wind blew past them, so Eren couldn't tell if Levi's blush was from the cold or from him. "Don't look at me with those cute eyes," Levi mumbled.

It took Eren a minute to process the implications of what he'd said, and when he did, he could hardly believe it. Levi 'Rivaille' Ackerman, the handsome, intelligent, and talented, who's piercing grey eyes weren't so bad themselves, thought his eyes were pretty?

Levi soon realized what he'd said, too. His eyebrows lifted a bit and his cheeks became even darker. He turned away from Eren quickly and said, "I have to go write, Eren." He speed-walked to his car and didn't look back.

Eren's body was in a frenzy. His brain was all over the place, his hands were clenched with anger but shaking in excitement, and his heart was about to beat right out of his puffed chest. The only thing he could assemble from his thoughts was that, for some reason, Levi found him at least slightly attractive.

The very thought excited Eren, making his hands shake more and his heart beat faster. He'd spent many years admiring Levi's work, and on some occasions, his face. He'd regularly fantasized about what it would be like to be friends (or more) with him. Now, he felt like he'd miraculously won a contest, that he'd turned the tables and Levi was now at his mercy (even though Levi had only said he liked Eren's eyes).

The best part, though, was that Eren could turn Levi's small crush into something much bigger, and then use it to his advantage in getting him to read a short story to the toddlers.

Because that's all I really want, Eren thought, even though his heart betrayed him by nearly exploding at the idea of seducing Levi Ackerman.

But I'll need Mila's help.


	5. Of Toddlers and Truffles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way back from daycare, Mila gives Levi a box that more or less ruins his day.

The car ride from Freedom Daycare to Levi's house was mostly silent, aside from Mila's gentle humming. Levi couldn't really name the song she was humming- in fact, he rarely recognized her little tunes that she always sang. Sometimes he wondered if she made them up.

While Levi was glad to listen to his daughter hum happily, he had a duty as a father to ask a certain question. "So, kid, what'd you do at daycare today?"

"Oh it was awesomesauce-ome!" Mila explained. "We drew different thingies for each letter of the aph-a-bet, and at snack time, Missy gave me her cookie!"

"Did you say 'thank you?"

"Yes!" Mila said cheerily.

"Did Missy say 'you're welcome?'"

"No!" Mila replied, still cheery.

"Why the..... heck, not? Do I need to speak to her moms?"

"She said that there's not enough yummies in the world and that those who have lots should share it with those who don't have lots."

Levi sighed and chuckled a bit, wondering why he'd expected anything else from the daughter of Mikasa and Annie Ackerman.

After that, Mila began to talk about the things she'd drawn for the letters of the 'aph-a-bet.' Levi mostly nodded and listened half-heartedly, but a few things did grab his attention, like why she'd chosen 'opera' for 'O.' Mila explained that Mr. Jaeger had told her about how operas were stories where people sang.

Actually, 'Mr. Jaeger' came up several times during their conversation (or, really, Mila babbling and Levi's very-occasional question). Levi couldn't help but wonder what magic he worked over the children in order to enthrall and influence them in such a way. Was it simply good teaching? Or did the children, too, spend time admiring Eren's vibrant, determined eyes and glowing, tan skin?

Arriving at his house brought Levi out of his thoughts. He got both himself and Mila out of the car, and was about to bring her inside when she said, "Wait!"

He turned around and saw her rustling through her little princess-themed backpack. She quickly pulled a heart-shaped box out and gave it to Levi. 'Mr. Jaeger told me to give this to you," she said.

Levi's entire body seemed to freeze for a minute, except his mind, which took this in. He then slowly opened the box and saw some various chocolates-25, at least. On the lid was a little sticky-note that read, 'Hope they're as sweet as you!~Eren."

Levi stared at the note. Eren was flirting with him. Why? Was it a tactic to convince Levi to read aloud for the children? Did he want a sneak peek at some of Levi's books?

Levi had been staring at the sticky note for a while before his peripheral vision for a while before his peripheral vision noticed two missing chocolates.

"I ate two in the car," Mila promptly confessed. Levi smirked a bit and scooped her up, then brought her into the house.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / 

Levi rarely spent more than a few days at a time between writing projects. He'd only finished editing 'Ilse's Journal' two days beforehand, and he was already writing a new story. It was about a man who slayed giants, but one day, on an expedition, found a giant who killed other giants. He wanted it to be both a drama and an adventure- which could only happen if he actually managed to focus.

Usually, when Levi started a new story, his mind was focused on the project and he had ideas for everything from witty dialogue to plot twists. On that particular day, however, he could hardly focus enough to write a single sentence. His mind kept wandering back to the box of chocolates. 

Levi didn't have a particular love for chocolate (although he did enjoy eating them). What captured his attention was the very idea of the gesture. He imagined Eren saying the words on the note, his lips curved in a small smile as he spoke and his eyes crinkling. He'd look at the chocolates and see Eren's dark hand grabbing the box at the curve.

He also wondered what happened when Eren gave the chocolates to Mila. Did he smile fondly when he said 'your father?' Did Mila realize what the purpose of the chocolates were? Was she honored to take on an important task? Levi knew he would be honored if Eren had asked him to do something like that.

He did ask you to do something like that, and you turned it down, a small voice in Levi's head pointed out.

That's different, Levi thought, shaking his head and bringing his fingers back to the keyboard. The kids don't want to hear a depressing story from an old grump. Besides, if he weren't trying to convince me to do this, he probably wouldn't speak to me at all....

In order to prevent any other thoughts from the small voice, Levi dragged his mind back to his writing. The main character, Lavan Oak, had come into giant territory and found himself literally face-to-face with a (friendly) giant.His fingers hit the keys as his mind envisioned the massive creature.

Its eyes were as big as Lavan himself, though they looked like they held the whole world, for his eyes had round, green pupil's as bright as the grass- a spitting image of the Earth.

Levi shook his head and deleted the whole sentence. His giant would not be Eren.

A dark hand reached over towards Lavan and began gently poking and pushing his face, as if he were inspecting it. Laban, too, looked over the giant's massive head, with its unruly, brown hair and-

Levi stopped himself. Come on, think original, he thought.

It was no use. He wished he'd asked Hanji to draw concept art for the giant, because now, he could only imagine it as a slightly scarier version of Eren. He tried to think of the giant in other ways, but his brain would only allow Eren, Eren, Eren....

It was 10:00 and Levi hadn't written anything. He considered calling it a night and resuming his work when he was less focused on Eren, but he knew that was a bad idea. Nights when Mila went to sleep and stayed asleep, giving Levi uninterrupted writing time, were rare. He had to find a way to write while he had the chance.

Levi cursed himself as he began typing yet again, allowing himself to describe the giant as he imagined- tall, with huge, green eyes and unruly brown hair. Lavan Oak was going to fight a war against monsters with an Eren-giant, and that was that. At least it killed two birds with one stone- writing, and thinking about Eren.

Besides, Eren was a daycare owner, and weren't little kids afraid of monsters and such? Vanquishing monsters and giants was probably a specialty of his.


	6. Of Toddlers and Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi goes to Parent's Night at the daycare, which should really be renamed "Conversational Chess Night" or "Levi and His Big Fat Mouth Night."

Parent's Night at Freedom Daycare meant a lot of things. It meant an excuse for the parents to get out of the house. It meant a night of freedom and junk food for the children. It mean both children and parents learning what teachers thought of each individual pupil. More than anything, it meant lots of money for Cassandra Pixis.  
Cassandra Pixis was Dot Pixis' 16-year-old daughter. Along with being rather flirtatious with the ladies, she was a very good babysitter. Thus, the children who lacked responsible older siblings were sent to be watched by Cassandra and her girlfriend of the month whenever the parents needed to leave the house. Parent's Night was one of those times.  
Levi didn't even think twice about leaving Mila with Cassandra, her girlfriend (who she'd been dating for two months now. A new record), and the various other babysitted kids until he was walking through Freedom Daycare. He noticed a little dent in the wall next to where he stood, and grimaced internally as he remembered Petra telling him about the scuffle over a fairy dress that had caused it. Levi wondered if Cassandra would be able to handle the three of them, plus Lambert. Not even Eren had been able to.  
Speak of the devil, the arrival of the brown-haired teacher was announced by a singular hand clap and Eren saying, "Welcome to Freedom Daycare, everyone!" Levi hadn't even noticed there was a hum of chatter in the room until it abruptly stopped and everyone turned to face Eren.  
The brunette smiled, glad to have everyone's attention. He cleared his throat, then said, "I'm so glad to see you all here tonight! You'll all be very proud to see what your children have been doing this year, so far. As you know, while this daycare is mostly about fun and, well, giving you all a breather-" Everyone laughed and the corner of Levi's mouth twitched. "-I also try to teach your children as much as I can, not only academically, but artistically and emotionally, too. To start, take a look to your left, where your children's math sheets are. That's right- your children are learning to add, and tomorrow we start subtraction. This will give them a huge advantage in grade school!"  
The other parents began to clap, and Hanji whooped. Levi just nodded approvingly.  
For another few seconds, Eren talked about the children's art, and the stories he read to them. Then he became rather preach-y, ranting about how dear the children were to him and special and how teachers should be like extra parents, raising the children to their full potential and theings like that. The other parents began to gently sigh and look around the room. Levi paid attention. The speech was boring, yes, but it was good to see that Eren got so passionate about caring for kids such as his daughter. Besides, he got a little spark in his eyes as he spoke, and Levi felt like someone needed to listen to the little spark, to kindle it.  
And kindled it did. When Eren saw Levi's eyes trained on him amongst the parents, his chest swelled with pride and he began to talk with twice as much passion as before. Levi heard a parent groan, and despite understanding their feeling, he had to resist the urge to kick them in a sensitive area.  
However, at some point, a young woman- probably an assistant at the daycare- ran up to Eren and whispered something in his ear. He frowned a bit and the flame in his eyes was doused. "Well, uh, you're now free to look around," he said in a disappointed tone. Then he put on a small smile. "Remember to come to me if you have any questions!"  
Hanji and Armin began to explore the daycare (though Hanji was less interested in their twins' accomplishments and more interested in the toys). Everyone else formed a sloppy, unofficial line in front of Eren, waiting to ask him questions. Most of the parents talk to him about their kids, but Levi's questions were definitely of a more.... personal manner. He needed to know about why, exactly, Eren sent him those chocolates.  
While he waited in 'line,' his eyes fleeted around the room, jumping from random decoration to another until they could find something they just couldn't bounce off of. Unfortunately, Freedom Daycare was pretty generic. It had duckling wallpaper and purple rugs, and toys were tucked away in corners and on shelves. The only pieces of furniture were a small bookshelf, and a bunch of large tables and chairs, splattered with paint. Like a rather large nursery.  
One thing did swallow his eye: a section of the wall labeled, 'OUR DREAMS.' Levi straggled from the line a bit in order to look at it, and found that it was filled with drawings the children had made of their future careers. He scanned the wall, looking for Mila's drawing. He found it next to Missy Leonhardt's drawing of her punching people (My dream is to be a puncher!) The drawing next to it depicted a stick-figure Mila with droopy lipstick holding what appeared to be an ice cream cone, standing in a spotlight. Her drawing skills were as nonexistent as Levi's, but once he realized the ice cream was a microphone, he got the picture: Mila wanted to be a singer. He wasn't surprised.  
"She's quite the artist, isn't she?" said a voice.  
Levi's heart nearly froze in surprise, but once it began to beat again, he wasted no time. "I need to talk to you about something, Eren."  
Eren smiled a bit, but kept his eyes on Mila's crude picture. "So you got the chocolates, huh? I was afraid Mila would eat them all."  
"Yeah. ANd they didn't convince me to read for you and the kids, if that's what you were aiming for." Actually, he knew that was what Eren had been aiming for, but a small, foolish part of him hoped that he'd say he sent it for different reasons.  
He got so such response- instead, he got a frown and groan. "Aw, c'mon, Levi! It'll be fun for everyone, and you'll learn that the kids really do like you!"  
"They don't. No."  
Eren sighed. "The chocolates didn't change you attitude about....anything?"  
Levi thought for a minute, wondering what Eren meant by 'anything,' but eventually just said, "No."  
"I guess I'll have to try harder, then."  
"Don't. You're wasting your time, and mine." The statement was true, but he prayed to god Eren wouldn't stop trying. How else would he talk to him?  
"You won't say it's a 'waste of time' when I give you the greatest gift ever."  
"The greatest gift ever would be leaving me alone." Or staying by me forever. Either one.  
"That one's not an option, sorry."  
"How about giving my daughter the greatest education ever?"  
Eren smiled slyly. "Am I not already?"  
"True," Levi said, and Eren blushed.  
However, he soon regained composure. "How about you give me the gift of reading one of your amazing stories to the admiring children? As payment for the education?"  
"I already pay you, idiot. Anyway, how about you give mea chance to convince you that my stories are not that amazing, and certainly not suitable for children? Or, how about, before you try to get me to expose my soul in story-form to children, you give me a reason to, and tell me more about this whole story-time thing?"  
Eren opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it and furrowed his brow, thinking. "So, if you had more information, you might read for me?"  
"Maybe," Levi said. He wanted to say yes, but he reminded himself that most children really did not like him, and that he was playing hard-to-get.  
"Well, in order to inform you, I'll have to talk to you more."  
The shorter man's heart skipped a beat, but then forced a scowl. "Now, hold on, I never fucking said I-"  
"Shush, no-no words, Levi! But I believe I have a plan......" 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After not chatting with Eren much one morning, Levi discovers that he's about as dependent on talking with Eren as this author is dependent on coffee- which is to say, very.

Levi didn't talk to Eren when he dropped off Mila the next day-not the way they usually did, anyway. It was all because, after Eren and Mila said hello and she ran in, he was wearing this cheeky grin.

"What's up with you?" Levi had asked. His eyebrow was raised but he was squinting.

Eren had started to giggle. "N-nothing," he'd managed to get out through his laughing fit.

Eren continued to laugh, and Levi got angrier and angrier. As he clenched his fists, a little boy going into the daycare ran towards his mother in fear. "What the... heck are you planning? You know what? I'm tired of you pestering me! If you're......"  
Levi had found that he couldn't stop talking, and words fell out of his mouth that had nothing to do with Eren, but wee simply his personal problems. Eren laughed hysterically at first, but then he and some children watching began to look concerned, almost scared.

When Levi ran out of breath, Eren had interjected, saying, "Are you okay, Levi? You seem, uh, angry today."

Levi froze for a second and blushed. "It's all your fault," he mumbled, and walked off in a huff.

Throughout the day, Levi found himself feeling rather tense. He usually felt rather satisfied after dropping off Mila, having used up several witty comments while arguing with Eren, but today he had only ranted. The raven-haired man had to force his comments onto Lavan Oak, who he'd planned to be a rather serious, silent character. Levi had to re-write the whole scene where the friendly giant led Lavan to the giant nest so it could be much more solemn.

The book was a whole other issue. He had a sort of daily intake of Eren that let him write his character in 'The Giant Slayer.' That day, he had nothing. No little quirks no actions or words that could be transferred from Eren to his words. So, after realizing that the friendly giant was not being solemn or friendly, simply dull, he halted writing Eren's character at all that day.

How ironic, Levi thought as he closed his Word Document and leaned back in his chair. My biggest fan is what's stopping me from writing.

So, when he came to pick up Mila, he decided to talk to Eren, even if he was still wearing that stupid, sly grin. He needed to write, and he also needed to stop whatever Eren was planning. The scared children that morning had further proved that children didn't like him. He wouldn't want to inflict his sort of grimness onto them at such a young age, like his uncle had inflicted onto him. Yes, Levi told himself he had to talk to Eren. For the children, for his career, and to feel the excitement of their nonstop conversations.

He exchanged a courteous 'hello' with the now-less-sly daycare owner before he ducked his head into the daycare and shouted, "Mila! Time to go!"

He heard a little groan as Mila toddled over to the doorway. "Daddy, can I just finish baking my mud pie?" she begged.

Levi's nose crinkled in disgust, but Mila quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek before he could say anything. "Thank you, Daddy!" she said before running off.

Levi instantly turned to Eren, angry yet again. "Mud pies?" he asked. "You're letting my daughter make mud pies?"

Eren laughed a bit, which made Levi want to explode. How had he missed talking with this infuriating twat? "What's wrong with mud pies?"

"They're disgusting. A cesspool."

"Well, yeah, but sometimes you have to get dirty to have fun."

Levi sighed, thinking, At least I can use that quote. He spoke more calmly next, saying, "For me, being clean has always been happiness... or, more adorable than dirtiness, anyway."

"Didn't you ever get dirty as a kid?"

"Not voluntarily. I preferred quieter, cleaner games."

"Like?"

"Storytime."

"Funny that you say that, because I still want you to-"

"Don't," Levi said. He was scowling, about to laugh. There was something kind of funny about how persistent Eren always was when it came to the reading, and it made his stomach both want to fly and churn our laughter.

Eren sighed, snapping Levi back to the conversation, and said, "Well, I always liked sandboxes. Making sand-castles and all that."

"Sand castles aren't too bad, I guess," Levi said, shrugging. "So, do you only let the kids play unsanitary games?"

Eren snorted. "No, usually if I make a group activity, it's educational, like bug-hunting or hopscotch. Their minds are growing extremely fast at this age, you know. Oh, and sometimes I also let them make their own games, so they become more independent and creative."

"You know, these kids might grow up smart, but they'll also be so fuc...freaking weird. You're raising mycologists and cult leaders here."

"I know, but I don't regret it. Before I chose to have these teaching methods-or choose anything, really- I accept all possible outcomes."

Another quote, Levi thought, and wondered if he should be writing these things down. "Well, I hope you let them play some good classics, like hi-"

"Hide and seek?" Eren guessed, eyes wide as he smiled excitedly.

"Uh, yeah," Levi said. "Man, I loved that game."

"Same! The suspense, the adrenaline! Whether you were a seeker or hider, it was all so exciting!"

"I liked that it was mostly clean, and I was good at it. I was, uh, petite, so I could squeeze into the smallest places. No one ever found me."

"I would've found you," Eren bragged, "because I was an amazing seeker. I could see above stuff, and I looked everywhere."

Levi pushed Eren playfully. "That's not much to brag about. We're not in the second grade anymore."

Eren started to laugh, but his tinkling giggles were drowned out by the sound of little feet pattering against the floor. Mila ran up to Levi and said, "Ready to go!"

"Great," Levi said with a Mona Lisa smile. "So, we're not going to eat mud pie?"

The ravenette shook her head.

"Good, because I'd rather eat.... you!"

Mila shrieked and burst into giggles as Levi swooped her up, growling, and pretended to bite into her. Then he set her down and said, "Okay!" she said. She turned and waved at Eren. "Bye-bye, Daddy Jaeger!"

"Bye, Mila!" Eren said.

As Levi grabbed her hand walked with Mila towards the car, he asked, "Why do you call Mr. Jaeger 'Daddy?'"

"Well, he's going to be my daddy when you get married!"

Levi blushed and ruffled Mila's straight hair. "Silly girl," he said, struggling to maintain a straight face.

He'd been so caught up in chatting with Eren, in playing with Mila, that he'd forgotten all about foiling Eren's secret plan. Thus, he didn't notice a little slip of paper in Mila's pocket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't comment sexual things about 'daddy!' It's kind of creepy, triggering to any readers who are CSA/incest survivors, and it oversexualizes poor Mila. Like before, any comments of that type will be deleted. Thanks!


	8. Of Toddlers and Texting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi finds a number.

"Goodnight, Mila," Levi said, kissing Mila on the forehead.

"Night, Daddy," she said with a yawn.

Levi was just about to turn off the light, but as he reached for Mila's lamp on her bedside table, he noticed a slip of paper on it. He picked it up, only to see 10 numbers scribbled onto it.

"What's this?" he asked, showing the numbers to Mila. "Were you and your friends playing 'teenagers' again?"

Mila sighed and scowled. "No, Daddy, we don't do that anymore. Mr. Jaeger told me to take it."

"Tch. I see."

Levi turned out the lights and began to walk towards the door, still staring at Eren's number. He was halted when Mila said, "Daddy, I wanna read night stories myself, so you can't come in here and... and learn all my secrets!"

He half-smiled. "You reading your own stories won't stop me from learning your secret. Daddy knows everything, you know."

Mila groaned and Levi walked out of the room, chuckling a bit as he looked down at the series of numbers. 

 

..................

 

Levi wasn't quite sure what to think of the number. It was most likely Eren's, which made him want to burn it so he could triumph in their 'argument,' but the weaker part of him wanted to save it to his phone a million times and squeal like a pig. However, he remained wary to the fact that Eren was unpredictable, and for all he knew, that could be the pope's number.

I guess there's only one way to find out, Levi thought as less of a statement and more of an excuse to (possibly) text Eren.

He carefully went to his messages and typed the number in, being extremely careful not to miss a digit. He then began to text.

Levi(20:32): Is this Eren Jaeger?

Levi stared at the screen, and as he did so, he found his stomach trembling. This sensation was only amplified when he got a text back only a few moments later.

9584662071(20:33): Yes! This is Levi Ackerman, right?

Levi(20:33): No, it's Pinocchio.

Levi(20:33): Of course I'm Levi Ackerman, you idiot.

As Levi waited for a response, he clicked on Eren's number and began to save it. He at first named it 'Eren,' but backspaced quickly and smirked as he typed in 'Shithead' and saved.

Shithead(20:35): Sorry! I was just surprised that you actually texted the number, that's all

Shit, Levi thought,now I have to come up with a reason for texting him.

Levi(20:35): I had a question to ask. I wanted to know if the children are starting to learn to read. Mila's eager to read her own stories.

Shithead(20:36): A little bit! I've bought a few easy books for them, and I teach those who want to what noises certain letters make and stuff.

Shithead(20:36): Actually, that's why I want you to read for the kids. You like to use lots of onomatopoeias in your books, which re easy and fun for the kids to learn. 

Shithead(20:36): Also, Mila will be more motivated to read if she's reading your works!

Levi(20:37): So you think having me read to them will teach my kid to read?

Shithead(20:37)It'll help, at least.

Levi(20:37): I guess I'll think about it.

Shithead(20:37): WAIT REALLY??! YOU'LL COSNIDER IT?// OMG I'M SO EXCITEEEDD I CAN'T EAVEN

Levi(20:38): I'm only 'cosnidering' it, so calm your tits.

Levi(20:38): So, before you piss yourself, let me change the topic. How did you know off the top of your head that I like onomatopoeias?

Levi(20:39): It's creepy

Shithead(20:39): I'm not ashamed to say that I read your books

Shithead(20:40): lots

Levi(20:41): I never took you as the type to re-read books.

Shithead(20:41): LOL, no, yours are special. I sort of got hooked after reading 'A Choice With No Regrets.'

Levi(20:41): I'm not surprised. Let me guess: you really liked Louis' story?

Shithead(20:42): Yeah! How'd you know?

Levi(20:43): Guy devotes his whole life to a cause he feels is important beyond all measure? Sounds exactly like your sort of thing.

Shithead(20:44): True

Shithead(20:44): But if you wrote it, it most me your sort of thing, too!

Levi(20:45): Kinda. The deaths of Izzy and Farlan were supposed to represent the end of my marriage to Petra, and Louis' decision to continue fighting represented my decision to still put all my energy into caring for Mila, despite my qualms with her mom

Shithead(20:46): Oh. Didn't realize that

Shithead(20:47): It's really sweet how devoted you are to your daughter tho

Levi(20:48): It's nothing compared to what you do with everyone at the daycare.

Shithead(20:49): Well like you said in The Woman of Moss, "Caring for the whole world isn't to hard. Devoting your life to one person is near impossible."

Levi(20:50): You can't use my own books against me.

Eren and Levi talked for an enormous amount of time. For once they were bickering or flirting shamelessly- they were just having a normal conversation. Only it wasn't that normal. They could practically sense what the other one would say and their responses rolled out quickly and easily, like they'd been ready for those words their whole lives. It was like their souls had fused a bit and it allowed them to see each other's views and thoughts. Levi wondered if this fusion was what pulled him into the text conversation, despite his eyes tearing up in the phone's light.

He only wanted to leave when the conversation took an interesting turn.

Shithead(21:50)Speaking of which, why did Mila call me 'Daddy Jaeger' b4?

Levi(21:51): Oh yeah

Levi(21:53): Well, it's sort of weird but the thinks we're going to get married

Levi(21:53): And then you'll be her dad or whatever.

Shithead(21:54): Are we going to get married?

Levi(21:54): Flirting with me isn't going to make it any more likely for me to do the reading. Let me decide on my own.

Shithead(21:55):Maybe it wont help with the reading but it will make it more likely for us to go on a date ;)

Levi(21:59): Sorry, Eren, it's getting late and I need to finish some writing before bed. I gotta go.

Shithead: (22:00): Sure. Night, Levi.

Levi: Goodnight


	9. Of Toddlers and more Toddlers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Texts describing toddler antics.

"With a roar and a-"

As his fingers snapped out the 'and,' his phone chimed in sync. On instinct, Levi pushed off his desk and his rolled over to his phone. It was text.

Shithead (9:28): Does Mila have anything against puppets??????

Levi (9:28): I think Cassandra Pixis showed her a horror movie about them once. Why? Also, why are you texting on the job?

Shithead (9:29): It's an emergency! Hank was going to put on a puppet show, but now Mila and Missy Leonhardt are beating up his puppets!

Levi (9:29): What the fuck?????? Why would she do that to poor Hank????/?

Levi (9:30): Tell her that if she doesn't stop, no more waffles. Ever.

Shithead (9:30): Okay, I'll try that.

Levi (9:30): Good.

Shithead (9:32): Well, Mila's crying and Missy is insisting that "Waffles are a right like healthcare," but Hank's got his puppets back, so he's calmed down, at least.

Levi: Okay. Now stop texting and don't let my kid get killed.

Eren: I won't.

 

With a sigh, Levi pushed his worry for Mila out of his mind (no matter how persistent the idea of her getting in big trouble was), and tried to focus on how Lavan Oak would control the giant.........

 

/ / / / / / / / / / / /

No more than 20 minutes later, Levi got another text from Eren. This time, he was watching TV while his phone rested on the kitchen counter. He heard it ring and almost left it be, but his worries soon pushed him up from the couch with a groan.

Shithead (9:49): I'M PRETTY SURE MIKASA AND ANNIE TAKE MISSY TO TOO MANY PROTESTS

Levi (9:49): Jesus Christ, what's going on now?

Shithead (9:50): SHE ORGANIZED A PROTEST OF PARENTS. SHE THINKS KIDS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY EAT AND BEAT UP

Shithead (9:50): THEY'RE MARCHING AROUND AND CHANTING 'Food and fights are fun!'

Levi (9:50): Shit! Do something!

Shithead (9:52): WHEN DID MILA LEARN 'A CHANGE IS GONNA COME'???????

Levi (9:52): Petra likes it.

Levi (9:52): What's going on now?

Shithead (9:53): She's teaching the other kids to sing it for the protest. I love them but half of them are tone deaf.

Shithead (9:53): I was freaking out before but, you know, this is kinda funny.

Levi (9:54): What the fuck!! It's not funny!!! Next thing you know, their 'protest' will have them running out of the building!!!!

Levi (9:54): I'm coming over there.

Shithead (9:54): Nonononono! I got it! You keep on writing!

Levi (9:55): You would rather have your whole daycare organize a potentially dangerous protest against you than have me stop writing for an hour, at most?

Levi: (9:55): You need to get your priorities straight.

Shithead (9:55): Don't worry! I know what to do. They'll stop in no time.

Levi (9:55): You better. Text me updates.

Shithead (9:55): Oh, I will ;)

Levi: (9:56): Stop flirting with me and watch the kids, idiot!

Shithead (9:56): Right!

 

/ / / / / / / / / / / 

Shithead (10:10): I told them that kids do need more freedom, but at the moment, it was time for a nap.

Levi (10:11): And they listened?

Shithead (10:11): Yeah

Levi (10:12): With no fights?

Shithead (10:12): Yeah, pretty much.

Shithead (10:13): Well, Missy fought a bit at first, but Mila got her to come nap.

Levi (10:13): How did you do that????

Shithead (10:13): Well, they were pretty worn out.

Levi (10:14): Mila once swam at the lake for 3 hours and then went to a birthday party for 2 hours and still refused to nap. I doubt that's the reason they napped.

Shithead (10:14): Years of training, then, I guess.

Levi (10:14): Wow.

Levi (10:14): You just earned yourself a new contact name.

~Magic~ (10:16): Lmao what?

Levi (10:16): Never mind.

~Magic~ (10:16): Oh, okay.

 

/////////

Eren sat in his chair and sort of just watched the kids, absent-mindedly staring at their scruffy hair as their chests rose and fell and tiny whispers were heard. A vibration against his butt caused him to pull his phone out of his pocket. He saw it was from Levi, and his stomach almost jumped out of his body.

Levi!!!! <3 (10:22): How are the kids?

Eren (10:22): Fine.

Eren (10:22): Please stop worrying and go write. Besides, you're going to see her when you pick her up in just like, 2 hours!

Levi!!! <3 (10:23): Fine. Text me if they start protesting again or something.

Eren (10:23): LOL, I will.


	10. Of Toddlers and Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mila and Missy play house. Mila cares for the baby while Missy draws, which gets Missy thinking.

"Missy," Mila said, propping herself up with her elbows against the table, "wanna play house?"

Missy glanced up from her drawing to see the other girl's smiling face, then continued to scribble with red marker. "I'm sorta busy."

"Awwwww, please? I can be the mommy, you are the other mommy, and our baby is the paper dolly you gave me!"

"No."

"Why?"

"I wanna draw."

"Mommies can draw! My mommy does it all the time, just for...uh...fun!"

Missy set down her crayon for a moment and thought. Then she said, "So, if I pretend to be the other mommy, I can draw?"

"Sure!"

"Okay."

"Yay!" Mila squealed, jumping up and down in circles. 

Once she steadied herself, she pulled a wrinkled paper doll out of her pocket and said, "I'll sing our baby to sleep. Pretend you're drawing me a birthday card."

Missy looked down at her drawing of a lion devouring a kitten. She shrugged--it was no different than her other birthday cards.

She continued scribbling the blood between the felines as Mila rocked their 'baby' and sang 'Rock-a-bye Baby.' It was a peaceful sort of thing--Mila was her temporary wife, singing nicely and leaving her alone, and all the while she got to draw a 'birthday card.'

Then, Missy realized something.

"Wait, why am I making a card?" she asked.

"Shh, the baby's gonna cry!" Mila hissed. Then, in a calmer whisper, she said, "It's nice to make people birthday cards!"

"Yeah, on their birthday..."

"Oh, that's true......but my birthday is in....well, it's soon!"

"Happy birthday then," Missy said nonchalantly.

"It will be happy!" Mila shouted and clapped her hands, apparently forgetting the sleeping baby. "My daddy's getting me a Moana CD, my mommy's getting me a bear, an Mr. Jaeger's going to let me sing! Right, Mr. Jaeger?"

The daycare teacher stopped helping a toddler place blocks in a floppy tower and looked at Mila. "Oh, yeah, you bet!" he said. "But you can't do any more protests, okay."

"Okay!" Mila replied.

"Don't worry," Missy whispered once Eren went back to helping the toddler, "because once your birthday's done, we'll start protesting again. Mommies and daddies won't keep our freedom!"

Mill nodded, then started singing and bouncing the paper doll in her arms. Missy began to draw again, her kitten-eating-lion growing more detailed and ferocious. I wish I could see a real one, she thought. It would be beyond cool.

Then she said, "Hey, what ar-"

"Shh!" Mila hissed, pointing to the paper doll.

"Sorry," Missy whispered. "What are you going to wish for?"

"Wish?"

"Like on a birthday candle. On my four-d birthday, I wished for crayons and a sword."

"Did you get 'em?"

"One of them."

Mila gasped. "The sword?"

Missy hung her head and shook it. Mila frowned. 

"But what are you wishing for?" Missy whispered.

Mila shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, what do you want?"

Mila furrowed her brow and thought for a minute, then said, "Waffles, Moana, and for my daddy to marry Mr. Jaeger?"

"Are they dating?"

"No...."

"Well, maybe they should kiss first."

"True love's kiss! Yeah! That's what I'll wish for!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short little (sort of) filler chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed! I love these babies.


	11. Of Toddlers and Tuesday, April 15th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Tuesday, April 15th, Mila's birthday. And she had an unusual wish.

Levi had never done too much for his birthdays. Kenny didn't even try to celebrate--in fact, he usually forgot-- and while they got lots of money and food from people trying to spread the 'Christmas spirit,' Kenny usually took most for himself or split it 50/50.

And yet, despite knowing little to nothing about how to celebrate a birthday, he wanted Mila's childhood to be nothing like his, and that started with giving her fantastic birthdays. He had a few celebratory activities they did, the first one being how he got her out of bed.

"Time to open your eyes," Levi whispered as usual on the big day, turning on her ladybug lamp.

Also as usual, Mila grunted and flipped over.

"Don't you want to start the day, _birthday girl?_ "

Almost immediately, her eyes flew open and she jumped into Levi's arms with a squeal, causing a rare ear-to-ear smile from Levi.

"BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! BIRTHDAY! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" she screamed, bouncing up and down in her father's arms.

"No kidding," he said as she continued to shout. "Hey, keep it down, kid."

The next order of business was getting ready for daycare-- specifically, eating and getting dressed.

While he'd already prepared her some waffles for breakfast (with a candle on top), her clothes were more of her choice. Mila had a large collection of princess dresses ( mostly from Halloween and other birthdays), extravagant outfits, and fancy accessories that Levi only let her wear on special occasions.

She chose a sparkly pink 'ballgown,' massive, cumbersome fairy wings and a Mardi Gras mask.

Finally, Mila walked into the car while humming 'Happy Birthday' to herself.

Levi buckled her in (which was no small feat, with those fairy wings) and then got in the car himself, before doing their final celebratory tradition.

"So, Mila, what did you wish for?"

"Oh! Oh! Missy and I talked about this! I wished for you and Mr. Jaeger to kiss!"

Levi slammed down on the brake and a car behind him beeped. _Kiss?_ She wanted him to _kiss_ Eren? Levi would die. Eren would die. It would be so massively embarrassing and remove the only thing that Levi looked forward to and just _dear lord._

Taking a deep breath, Levi began to drive again. "You want us to... _kiss?_ Are you sure you don't just want a toy or something?" 

"Yeah." 

"Why?" 

"So he can be my daddy and always play with me, and you'll come read! We'll all be happy and I will have the _most_ daddies." 

Levi sighed. "So he's brought you over to the dark side, too?" 

"Huh?" 

"Never mind. I'll think about it." 

"But Missy said birthday wishes _always_ come true!" 

"So Missy gave you this idea," Levi said, making a right turn. "I'm not surprised." 

"Daddy! Just think." 

Levi half-snorted. 

/ / / / / / / / / 

Levi's driving was absent-minded for the rest of the trip, and as a result he very nearly missed several times. Mill shrieked once or twice when he had to swerve to miss a person or even a car--but to be fair, it was partially her fault because she was also constantly pestering him to decide. 

The thing was, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't attracted to Eren. He felt bad about it for more reasons than one (liking your child's daycare teacher? flirting with someone but not giving them what they want?), and he'd try to fight and deny it, but with no avail. Levi couldn't shake his smile, his eyes, his cute texts and tenacity from his thoughts. God, the man was like a dream. 

This made him desperately want to grant Mila's wish. He needed an excuse to kiss Eren-- to have on moment to, for once, let everything go. To express all of his gratitude, admiration, attraction, and passion, and then he'd finally be able to let it go and move on from this hell. He also tried to justify it by saying that it would be a great study for Eren's character--which it would be-- but, like the turn he'd just missed, he couldn't care less about that. 'Character study' sure as hell wasn't what was causing the butterflies in his stomach that made him want to vomit. 

When they arrived at Freedom Daycare (tardy, no doubt), Levi had made up his mind, although he was constantly doubting it. His stomach was doing gymnastics as he went to the back of the car, unbuckled Mila, and then lead her towards the daycare. They held hands and Levi tried not to crush her fragile palm. 

"Have you thought, Daddy?" Mila asked as she skipped. 

"Yeah." 

Mila squealed. "What did you choose?" 

Levi took a shaky breath, knowing this last chance, but before he could change his mind he sighed and said, "I'm going to grant your wish." 


	12. Of Toddlers and Tiptoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Call Levi a fairy godmother because he's about to grant a goddamn wish.

Levi tried to keep his hand from shaking as he and Mila walked (or, in Mila's case, skipped) hand-in-hand to the doors of Freedom Daycare. He was rarely nervous, mostly because he didn't care about anything much. But he cared about Eren. He cared about him and the way his green eyes looked at him in awe and their conversations and his stomach was flying because of this. This could change everything, for better or for worse.

_Just get it off your chest,_ he told himself. _That's all. It's healthy._

 

When he and Mila finally arrived at the doorway. Eren was there to greet them, and iLevi could feel his whole body shake, his heart around, and his breath hitched painful as Eren smiled at them.

"Good morning!" Eren said in a bright tone. He was shining like the hot son, and it dried Levi's throat out. He just nodded in response. Eren to scowled and cocked his head, concerned. The heat of Eren's gaze forced him to avert his eyes and look at Mila, who was rocking back and forth on her shoes and looking at the two of them expectantly. 

Levi cleared his throat-- he had to do it now before he lost his guts. "Mila, honey, you should head in."

"No! I want to see you grant my wish!" Mila said, now scowling.

Eren laughed. "Your concert isn't for a few hours, sweetie."

Mila shook her head violently. "No, my other wish!"

"Hmm?"

Levi sighed and turned towards Eren. _Here goes._ "What I'm about to do.... don't be an idiot and take it as more than it is."

 

Eren smirked. "I probably will."

"I'm serious here. I'm not promising you anything."

"And I'm not saying anything. This... this does not mean anything."

"Sure."

"Also, never speak of it again, after today."

"And, just.... I'm only doing this for Mila, and because you stopped that protest the other day, I guess. That's it."

"Levi, with all due respect, your books have less crippling suspense than this moment."

With that, Levi took a deep breath, stood on his tiptoes, reached his arm around Eren's neck, and pulled their faces together. The rest of Eren went blurry as he focused on his purple lips. They looked soft.

Levi had never kissed a boy before, but now he finally understood why he'd always wanted to. Erin's lips were a bit thin and soft, and they were a bit sticky from chapstick, and tasted and sweet and vibrant as he did. The best part was that Eren was kissing back, and his strong arms were wrapped around Levi's waist. The shorter man let himself smile into the kiss.

When they heard many tiny claps, Levi came down from his toes and they broke apart, thought their lips stuck together a bit from the chapstick. All of Freedom Daycare was cheering for them.

"My wish came true! My wish came true!" Mila shouted as she clapped and bounced She grabbed Missy's hand and made her bounce, too.

"DADDY WAS RIGHT!" the Arlert twins screamed.

"Will you read to us now?" Hank asked, staring up at Levi.

Levi could barely breathe, the memories of the kiss and the noises around him were too much, he had to get out. He forced his apathetic face on, and looked back at Eren, who wore a small smile and huge eyes.

"I've gotta go," he said, practically choking on his words and shallow breaths. He turned around and walked as fast as he possibly could.

"Wait!' Eren shouted.

Levi hesitated, but he sighed and slowly turned around. "Yeah?"

Eren took a deep breath, biting his lip, then exhaled and scowled with determination. "Daycare ends at 4 today."

Levi's stomach fluttered with anticipation. "And?" he said as cooly as possible.

"And, um, well, I know you told me that this didn't mean anything, but Cassandra Pixis is free, and I know that the park is beautiful at sunset, if you want to meet up and.... talk."

"Yeah, sure," Levi said before he could stop himself.

He then turned away and began to walk towards his car, a kind of giddiness in his legs propelling him forward. 

He was going on his first real date. 

_Well, I_ hope _it's a date,_ Levi thought, but shook his head before he could allow any more doubts. As he got into his car, he heard the kids chanting "Brave Mr. Jaeger!" and singing the Wedding March, as well as Eren groaning. He peeked out the window. Erin's ears were all red as he looked down. Did he do that when he got nervous?

 

_I should write that down,_ Levi thought, _if I'm going to write today._

 

But it wasn't long before Levi abandoned writing in favor of mentally preparing for his date.


	13. Of Toddlers and Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a walk in the park, Eren asks Levi for the truth.

"Hey," Levi said.

Eren looked up from his book and saw Levi, standing in front of his park bench. He wore a gray hoodie and jeans, and his hands were in his pockets as he looked almost at his feet.

"Levi," Eren said, a small smile on his face.

"Tch. You could've said hey, too, you know. Manners."

Eren grinned and looked at Levi fondly for a moment, his smooth skin and cutting jaw, his dark but beautiful expression. "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly, jumping up. He pulled a small bouquet of red roses from behind his back.  
"Here," he said as he handed them to a slightly bewildered Levi. He then carefully, slowly took Levi's free hand and said, "Shall we walk?"

"Um, sure," Levi said, grasping Eren's much-bigger hand back. "And thanks."

They began to quietly walk. Levi looked around at his surroundings. Cherry blossom petals littered the ground and even more bloomed on trees. The grass was half-shadowed, half-bright green, because of the pink, blushing sunset. As they turned a corner in the path, Levi saw a bunch of trees with their petals blowing in the wind, dancing around the sunset. It reminded of the forest where 'The Giant Slayer' was supposed to take place, the perfection he pictured in his head.

Eren, on the other hand, was too busy shaking with excitement to look away from Levi.

It finally occurred to Eren that maybe he should speak. "So," he said, and cleared his throat. "The sunset is beautiful, right?"

Levi nodded, still gazing at it. "Just like you promised."

Eren nodded back. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight--or really, weary soldier's delight."

Levi glared while Eren smiled. "Have you memorized every damn line in all of my books?"

"Maybe."

"Well, it's creepy."

They were silent for a while longer. They continued to walk until they reached a bridge, where they stopped looked at their squiggly silhouettes in the murky water.

"So..... the weather's nice," Eren said, smiling awkwardly.

Levi sighed heavily and ran his hands over his face. 

"I'm sorry! I must be boring you. Or did I say something wrong?"

"No, no," Levi said. "I just.... I hate small talk."

"Oh. What do you want to talk about?"

"Why you want me to read at your daycare so badly would be a start."

Eren smiled a bit and leaned against the bridge, and Levi's heart fluttered like the cherry blossom that was falling into the stream beneath them. "I mean, it's pretty obvious. I love your books for a lot of reasons, but I especially love the lessons they taught me. I want the kids at my daycare to have a chance to learn those lessons."

"Why not just read it yourself?"

"Because your voice is..... I don't know, soothing, and because the kids--especially Mila--would love it."

"Okay," Levi said. "I'm not agreeing with you, but okay."

Eren nodded. Then he said, "Now, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." 

Eren playfully pushed Levi and Levi smirked. "I'm serious."

"Shoot."

"Why won't you read for the daycare?"

"I've told you a million times already. Kids don't like me, and the kids adore you and the daycare, and I don't want to ruin that."

"Really? That's all?" Eren's tone was disbelieving.

"Yeah."

It was sort of a lie. Everything Levi had said was true, but he left out one big part-- he was pretty sure this discourse between them was the only thing keeping Eren talking to him.

"You know, sometimes, Levi, I feel like your books are the only place where you say even a little truth."

Levi blinked in surprise at the statement, but calmly said, "What do you mean?"

"You're always blunt about simple things, but you always seem to be hiding or suppressing your true self, like how you never show emotions."

Levi didn't really know what to say to that. "That's very bold of you to say. And very observant."

"Teachers have to take a bit of psychology, but don't change the subject." Eren dropped a pebble into the water. It barely made a ripple. "For once, I want some real truth from you."

Levi took a deep breath, then sighed. "You want some truth? The truth is that I'm an introverted jerk that hates public speaking, and that I really, really like you but don't have a fucking clue how to flirt, so I used this whole... thing.... as an excuse to talk to you. Happy?"

Eren stared at Levi for a minute, expressing only shock, then started to smile. Then he burst out laughing, laughing until he was practically screaming. Levi looked away and cursed himself, until Eren put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm.... I'm very happy, Levi," he brought his face closer to Levi's, and in a whisper, said, "I really like you, too."

Levi allowed himself to fall into another kiss. The kiss was soft and still at first, almost nonexistent, but then they both fiercely pressed their mouths together pulled each other tight. Their mouths opened and their tongues slipped together, swirling around, as their hands pulled and explored each other's bodies. They wanted their bodies, every part, to fuse the way their sounds had while texting, in perfect harmony and totally inseparable. Each wanted to see the other's thoughts, the other's soul, the other's chiseled body, and more than anything else, they wanted to feel the passion in the other's heart.

They finally, slowly, pulled apart. "Does.... does this...." Eren paused to gasp for breath, then smiled. "Does this mean you'll read at the daycare?"

Levi chuckled a bit, and lazily grabbed Eren's hand. "No," he said, and shook his head. "Not yet."

"That's fine." Eren's squeezed Levi's hand. "Don't think I'm giving up, but right now, I think I'm okay with that."


	14. Of Toddlers and Trying to Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren wants to get things done. Levi doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dialogue in the beginning of the chapter is inspired by "Back to Bed" by Lydia. I suggest you give it a listen!

Eren rolled over and felt the warm sun on his face. It was almost as heating as the feverish arm around his waist or the soft, thick blankets on top of both him and Levi. He and Levi had been together for more than a month, but it was rare that Eren got to wake up beside him, warm and peaceful.  
He basked in the heat for a moment. However, it wasn't long before his brain began to remind him of the various things that had to be done. It was a Saturday, but he was still very busy. Thus, he flopped his portion of the covers onto Levi's body and pushed himself out of bed. Eren was putting on his slippers when he heard an "Oi, Eren...."  
He turned to see Levi, who's bare shoulders peaked out from the covers and who's half lidded eyes stared right into him. "Yeah?"  
"Come back to bed."  
Eren smiled sadly. "I can't. I hae to clean, and make breakfast, and we have to find a way to entertain Mila until Trudie and Lambert get here, and then entertain the three of them."  
Levi was silent for a moment, lazily blinking at Eren, before he said, "God, I love how you say that."  
"Huh?"  
"Your voice... it sounds so epic. It's like the vocal equivalent of a bright, piercing ray of sunlight."  
Eren's blush warmed him further. "Thanks, Levi."  
"Now, I'm serious. I never thought I'd say this, but we can clean later, and Mila's friends can wait. Now please..." Levi whispered the last part and lazily extended his arm towards eren. "....come back to bed."  
Eren chuckled. "Now I love how you say that. Alright, I'll sleep for a little longer."  
With that, Eren crawled back into the warm embrace of the sunlight, the blankets, and Levi's arms.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / 

When Levi awoke, his arms lay bare against the matress, and all the covers were on him. eren had gotten out of the bed.  
"Bastard," Levi mumbled as he lifted his head from the pillow. He sat on the bed for a minute, staring at the door but not really seeing it, before he sighed and stood up.  
He grabbed a neatly-folded shirt from his drawers and shoved it on, then glanced at himself in the mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes and his black hair was a mess, but he looked decent enough so as not to terrify Mila.  
Levi opened his bedroom door and began to slowly walk towards the kitchen. Well, 'slowly walk' didn't really express it-- more like 'exhaustedly waddled like a penguin-zombie hybrid.'  
When Levi got to the kitchen, he was amazed (and nearly blinded by what he saw).  
The kitchen was completely clean and a shiny white, and it was only brightened more by the sunlight pouring through the windows, lighting up little bits of dust in the air. By the stove, Eren and Mila stood, both with bedhead and loose, bright pajamas. Mila stood on her tiptoes.  
"Morning," Levi said, leaning against the doorway.  
They both jumped a bit, turned around, then smiled. Eren walked towards Levi and gave him a quick kiss. Mila giggled.  
"Goooooood morning," Eren said, putting his arms around Levi's waist.  
Levi looked around, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. "Thanks for cleaning the kitchen. It looks surprisingly decent," he said. "Now, what are you two doing?"  
Before Eren could answer, Mila began to jump and point at a tea kettle on the stove. "Cooking!" she exclaimed.  
 Eren looked at Levi and shrugged, moving his arms away as he did. "Cooking is a pretty useful skill. Plus, it'll help her with concepts in chemistry and thermal energy in the future."  
"Well, you're just Mr. Education, aren't you?"  
"Of course I am! Education is the key to a happy and fulfilling life, as well as change in all aspects. If you cultivate a love of learning at an early age, the child will be able to--"  
Levi put a finger to Eren's lips, which Eren stared at. "Shut up. You're starting to sound like a private school commercial. Also, didn't you say that reading was the key to 'happiness and fulfillment?'"  
Removing Levi's finger, Eren said, "Reading is considered a part of education."  
"Touche."  
Eren laughed a bit, and at that same moment the sun flared and shone all over his dark skin. Levi couldn't resist-- he kissed Eren again.  
They only broke apart when Mila pretended to faint on the floor. Levi's face grew soft as he swooped up. "You know, you should save the tea-making for when the Zoe's arrive. I'm sure Armin would love to have his kids learn 'chemistry.'"  
Eren raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you don't want any tea?"  
"Now, I never said that...."


	15. Of Toddlers and Teatime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While he makes tea, Hanji gives Eren and idea.

The doorbell rang suddenly and loudly, its calm, low tones sparking an energy in the apartment's inhabitants. Almost immediately, Mila jumped up from where she was on the couch, and her feet began to thud against the floor. She raced towards the door, shouting, "Trudie and Lamby! Trudie and Lamby!" Eren and Levi watched her and chuckled.

But she soon shouted something different: "Daddy! I can't reach the doorknob!"

Levi pushed himself up off the couch and Eren followed behind him. Levi opened the door for Mila once there, and sure enough, the whole Zoë family was there.

"Trudie! Lamby!" Mila cried, hugging them both.

Lambert stomped his foot. "I told you! Call me Bert!" Trudie giggled.

"Lamby," Mila said.

Lambert sighed.

Meanwhile, Levi said an unenthusiastic 'hey,' to Armin and Hanji. Hanji wasn't having it. "Aww, come on, you two!" they said, then put their arms around Armin, Levi, and Eren all at once. Armin and Eren smiled at each other and their partners. Levi tried to squirm free, until Eren put his arm around him, and then he stayed still.

Hanji finally let them go after a few long seconds. The children had already ran into the living room and were running around like airplanes, bumping into furniture. Levi dashed to go stop them.

"Why don't you two come in?" Eren said. "I was going to make tea with the kids."

"For science purposes?" Hanji and Armin said together. Then they looked at each other and smiled tenderly.

Eren laughed. "Exactly."

 

/ / / / / / / / / 

 

Hanji smiled as they watched Armin and Eren boil water with the kids. They were reclined against the couch, next to Levi, so they had a perfect view of their family in the kitchen. When the kettle began to whistle, Lambert, Trudie, Mila, Eren and Armin all squealed along with it.

"Our partners are a bit child-like, aren't they?" Hanji said.

Levi scoffed. "You're one to talk."

"I'm not childlike. I'm hyper and crazy, but that's not an exclusively child related quality. Children may be hyper, but they're also curious, silly like those two, easily entertained, emotional... all that stuff."

"You're curious."

"Well, yeah, but not the others. Eren and Armin, however, have all those qualities. Therefore, they are child-like."

"Hmm," Levi said. "Well, you always were an astute observer."

"Thanks. You always were a user of fancy words like 'astute.'"

"God, you're dumb. Shut up."

"No."

Levi briefly peaked into the kitchen, where Eren was happily explaining how tea water got flavor while the children intently listened.

He said, "Well, since they seem to be happy and you're being a fucker, I'm going to go into my office and work."

"What are you writing?"

"Nothing, I only have one chapter left of 'The Giant Slayer.'"

"Then what are you doing?"

"It's none of your business, but I set up a website where people can ask me for writing and literature-related advice."

Hanji raised their eyebrows and smiled mischievously. "Did you, now?"

"Yeah, and I have some questions to answer, so, uh, bye."

Hanji made sure Levi was out of the room before they pulled their phone out and hurriedly texted Eren. They heard Eren's phone vibrate in the neighboring room, and watched as Eren gave the tea kettle to Armin and pulled out his phone. He read the text and looked over at Hanji.

'For real?' he mouthed.

Hanji grinned and nodded.

Eren grinned back, and Hanji knew that he had a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, it's really short. But the next two are pretty long, so I'll make it up to y'all.


	16. Of Toddlers and Traps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi finally gets up on a lazy days to check his advice website. Clicking on his messages springs open a trap, the final blow in a long war.

There were days when Levi was productive. All he could think about was writing, his characters and dialogue and clever descriptions, and when he wasn't thinking about that he was planning things for Mila. Then, there were days when life seemed pointless, and no matter how hard he tried Levi just lazed on the couch, feeling nothing but also feeling bad.

Today was one of the latter. He was lying on the couch, eating a salad while some infomercial he had no interest in played on the television. He stared at the wall, and while he acknowledged its beige-ness and its tiny bumps, he did not really absorb the visual at all.

At times like these, every little thing reminded Levi of his childhood. Especially eating. As a child, he'd rarely had any food to eat, and if he did, he would have to devour it quickly rather than eat it at the leisurely pace he did now. He had never even tasted salad until he published his first novel-- Kenny, his criminal uncle who took care of orphaned Levi, never though to steal anything but flour and meat, much less lettuce.

He took another bite of his acidic salad as his thoughts turned to Mila. He wanted to be nothing like Kenny to her. She was his baby, his good little daughter, and Levi would rather die than have her introduced to the harsh realities Kenny had shown him at her age. All Levi wanted for her was nutrition, safety, role models and a good education. He took care of nutrition and safety as well as he possibly could, Petra helped him with role modeling and Eren took care of education.

Goddamnit, Eren, Levi thought. He was probably on his lunch break when Levi was supposed to call him. The dark haired man took a bite of hit salad one last time, then slowly got up. He dragged his feet across the house to his bed, where is phone was. He turned it on.

12:36, it read. Eren's lunch was already over.

Now that Levi was up, he figured it would be bad of him to go back to the sofa rather than being productive. However, he had finished 'The Giant Slayer,' and while he had an idea for a short story about a crab, he had no motivation to write it. The easiest option would be answering questions from teachers and writers on his website.

Sighing and fighting the urge in his legs to return to the couch, Levi walked towards his office. Once there, he opened his computer and went to his website. Not to his surprise, he had a message. He clicked on it. It read;

Mr. Rivaille;

I would like to start off by saying that I love your books. They are enthralling, inspiring and I have read them all at least five times.

Now I will get to my issue. I'm a daycare owner, and I've been trying to convince a certain person to read one of your stories at my daycare for almost six months now. However, this person believes that children do not like him, and that your books wouldn't do them any good. As a result this person refuses to read at my daycare.

I truly believe that the children would love this man, and that your books will teach them the same things they taught me. The man stubbornly refuses to believe any of this, no matter how much I attempt to convince him. Do you have any advice on how to make him come around?

Sincerely,

Not Eren Jaeger

 

Levi sighed and leaned back in his chair, shutting his eyes as he rubbed his forehead? No wonder Hanji had seemed so smug when they heard about Levi's website. Now, thanks to them, Eren had found the first way to pester him about reading at the daycare since they got together, and Levi couldn't really find the energy to fight back.

After all, what was the point? The main reason he'd refused over and over again was so he'd have a chance to talk to Eren, but now that they were together he didn't have to worry about that. As for the other things-- well, he was relying on Eren for Mila's good education. If he really thought him reading at the daycare was best, then maybe he should do it. 

Levi sighed and clicked the 'reply' button on Eren's message. He took a deep breath, rethinking his decision and then began to type. He said:

Fine. You win. I'll read at your daycare-- but I choose the story to read. Also, you definitely have to repay me for this.

-Rivaille

As Levi hit 'send' on the message, he felt as if he'd lost a hopeless war, but at the same time, he felt a great weight fall off his shoulders. He also felt the urge to work on his short story.


End file.
